Monday, May 26, 2014

Ikea Hack: Shortening Lack Shelves

Happy Memorial Day everyone! The weather in Minneapolis has been amazing. We've been spending a lot of time outdoors (running, biking, reading) sprinkled in with some home projects. So far, the perfect weekend.

Even though today's a holiday, I have one quick post left to share before showing off our finished master bathroom! So a quick post it is, before heading out on my late-morning run. (Soooo much better than an early morning run!)

Since Justin is a carpenter, we're not really ones for Ikea Hacks. Typically, we have no reason to hack an Ikea item, because Justin just builds it for us at a much higher quality at around the same price. But since Justin has had his hands full with this Master Suite Remodel, I wanted to try and make things a little easier, so I purchased three Lack shelves from Ikea.

I purchased the shelves months before we were done with the master bathroom, so I didn't really know where we'd be hanging them, and had no idea that they'd end up being far too long - about 5 inches too long.

Oops! So much for making Justin's life a little easier.

So, now that the majority of the remodel work is off of Justin's plate, it was time to shorten these Ikea shelves so they fit our Master Bathroom properly.

We started by measuring out where we thought the three shelves should hang. Justin draws this out using painters tape rather than marking our new walls up with pencil marks.

Justin then cut the shelves down to our measured size (38"), as well as cutting down the metal bracket that affixes the shelf to the mirror. Justin cut down the metal bracket using a sawzall with a metal cutting blade. But you could also use a hacksaw.

For the shelf, Justin put tape on the shelves when he cut to ensure that the particle board didn't chip when he cut the shelf using a miter saw.

Then it was as simple as following Ikea's instructions to hang the shelves. Secure the metal bracket to the wall using the screws provided.

Then hanging the shelves on the metal bracket, and screwing in place, under the shelf using the provided screws.

And it was really as simple as that!

And that's as much of an Ikea Hack as y'all will likely ever get out of us. And I"m OK with that.

Hi Kayla! I am totally obsessed with Lack shelves. I have had them in at LEAST one room of my last two houses. So glad to now know how to shorten them if needed! I know I have told you before, but your bathroom is just GORGEOUS. I can't get over it. Pinning and sharing this post!